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Guitarzman

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Posts posted by Guitarzman

    Helix latency versus a tube amp

    in Helix

    Posted

     

     

    Unless you are using air compression hoses for your cables, one foot of electrical cable does not impart any noticable lethargy! 
     
    Electricity moves at the speed of light: 186,000 miles per Second. 
    Sound moves at 767 miles per Hour; a crawl by comparison. 

     

     

    So does sound traveling @ 767 miles per hour convert to 0.213056 miles per second?

    First steps with the Helix seem a bit disappointing

    in Helix

    Posted

    Hi ZSchneidi,

    Welcome to the forum!

    Everything is subjective of course, but there are many, many people who believe Helix is indeed the best-sounding system out there. As your playback system is easily 50% of your tone, a Kemper or Fractal product (or whatever you've heard rumored to sound the best) is also going to also sound thin through those same hi-fi speakers. The sonic difference between top-tier modelers is never glaringly obvious, even to golden-ear engineers and first-call session guitarists, so if something sounds radically off, don't always assume it's Helix:

    • Modelers (including Kemper, Fractal, Amplifire, POD, and Helix) represent the mic'ed, recorded sound of an amp, not the experience of actually standing in front of a real amp, pointed at the back of your knees. This is not a limitation of modeling; it's a limitation of the laws of physics—you can't emulate the sound of a speaker without recording the speaker with a mic (which affects the sound), a cable (which affects the sound), a mic pre (which affects the sound), an A/D converter (which affects the sound), the acoustics of the room (which affect the sound), and some sort of speaker system to hear it all (which is at least FIFTY PERCENT of the sound!). Studio musicians and professionals used to in-ears or stage monitors gravitate to modelers with ease; musicians accustomed to a real amp generally have a harder time—and this is totally fine. In the meantime, there's nothing wrong with connecting Helix to your real amp, either as a pedalboard or in 4-Cable Method. Later you can try out a decent, flat-ish PA speaker (like those mentioned by others above) to see if a fullish-range system is enough to scratch that amp-in-the-room itch
    • The notion that modelers sound "digital" is a misnomer. Here's the Helix listening challenge; a few people can reliably call out which is Helix and which is the amp, but zero indicators are based on any sort of digital artifact. If a Helix, Kemper, or Fractal model or profile sounds digital, the "digitalness" would have been present in the original tube amp or effect that was modeled (like how harsh and cold a real Plexi can sound on record, especially when cranked)
    • Modelers almost always require some setup and knowledge of gain staging. An amp is easy—you just plug in and go. Modelers are at the mercy of whatever you plug it into. Nine times out of ten, your speaker system is the weak link. Barring that, setting input and output levels is key. DunedinDragon's post above is a good starting point
    • If you have a decent pair of high-impedance headphones connected directly to the back of Helix, they'll be a much better gauge of how recorded tracks sound through Helix
    • Helix has a high-quality 8-in/8-out audio interface built in; depending on your needs, you may not need to connect it to your Focusrite at all
    • All presets suck. They'll always sound sub-par unless your guitar, playback system, hearing, playing style, and musical tastes are all similar to the person who made the preset

    There are many, many people who don't require IRs to get the most out of the system. However, the real practical advantages of IRs are two-fold:

    • Many IRs are made up of multiple mics through tube mic pres and other outboard that impart a bit of juju—that is, they purposely color the sound of the actual cabinet. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's different from Helix's cabs, which were designed to be extremely transparent and accurate
    • The sheer number of IRs almost guarantees you'll find exactly what you're looking for. It's the difference between dating in a small town and dating in LA. (But much like dating in LA, finding the right IR can be a huge, time-consuming effort!)

    It's also important to note that Helix's own cabs are IRs.

     

    Don't give up, and there are tons of people both here and on Chad Boston's Helix Users Group Facebook page that can help you along the way. Good luck!

    Great post @Digital_Igloo! Very informative and helpful.

    Redwirez v Ownhammer

    in Helix

    Posted

    I also have Redwirez, Ownhammer, 3 Sigma, Cellestion and a few others I got online..These four are great in their own way and some sound better with different amp models..Recently I have been using the Redwirez and really enjoying them and am quite surprised how good they sound! But again I have enjoyed all of these IR's.  

    Gain structure for JCM800 seems way off to me...

    in Helix

    Posted

    Thanks, Guitarzman! That's a very cool thread!

    No Problem Keith glad to help! I do believe the 2204 is modeled after the JCM 800 and the 2204 mod has a lot more mids ( a line 6 version) I think either DI or Ben Adrian modded that amp model ! And I see your point about the high gain volumes at 3 or 4 on the 2204 amp model.. 

    Helix FW 2.20 (The "Get Low" Update) OUT NOW

    in Helix

    Posted

    The Good News: 2.20 will now include three additional models we didn't announce at NAMM:


    • Dynamics > 3-Band Comp (Mono, Stereo), Line 6 Original multiband compressor
    • Modulation > PlastiChorus (Mono, Stereo), based on* the modded Arion SCH-Z chorus
    • Pitch/Synth > 3 Note Generator (Mono, Stereo), Line 6 Original—similar to 2.20's 4 OSC Generator, except you can select pitches via note instead of Hz (and even glide between two notes over time)

    For those keeping score, 2.20 will now include 6 new amps, 7 new Hybrid cabs, and 9 new effects. Ben and Sam have already begun creating models for 2.30


     


    Great news the multi band compressor should be a great addition and give us a lot more options and a much better overall tone!


    Helix FW 2.20 (The "Get Low" Update) OUT NOW

    in Helix

    Posted

    The Bad News: We more than likely won't be hitting the February cutoff for Helix FW 2.20. In creating Variax Workbench support and MIDI Clock, we realized there were fundamental code changes required to make future development of the platform faster, easier, and more stable.

     

    The Good News: 2.20 will now include three additional models we didn't announce at NAMM:

    • Dynamics > 3-Band Comp (Mono, Stereo), Line 6 Original multiband compressor
    • Modulation > PlastiChorus (Mono, Stereo), based on* the modded Arion SCH-Z chorus
    • Pitch/Synth > 3 Note Generator (Mono, Stereo), Line 6 Original—similar to 2.20's 4 OSC Generator, except you can select pitches via note instead of Hz (and even glide between two notes over time)

    For those keeping score, 2.20 will now include 6 new amps, 7 new Hybrid cabs, and 9 new effects. Ben and Sam have already begun creating models for 2.30.

     

    There's no official timeline for release but unless something totally blows up, March for sure.

    Thanks DI looking forward to it, you guys at line 6 are awesome and I"m sure 2.20 will be the best update yet! From what i"m reading future updates will be more efficient and stable which is awesome news! 

    Amp Room. Every amp in a setlist for a Strat and a Les Paul

    in Helix

    Posted

    @brue58ski, this is AMAZING.

     

    Just for giggles, I made my own copy. All I did was change the Helix input to GTR in (I know some would want "multi" but that is useless to me, so I did GTR in), but as I went through there were a handful of patches with (easily fixable) errors, maybe in translation btw, that I fixed. Also, I made it so that the default snapshot on each is the clean one. And in a few cases there were FX on in some snapshots (also could have been translation error).

     

    If anybody wants that version here it is. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5YMP7cdVF-LWGRjRTcxLTRjT3c

     

    brue58ski, if you do NOT want me to share that, let me know, but I thought in the spirit of the good will of your post, I'd just offer it.

     

    imho, the best thing you can do to learn how Helix will work with your guitar is to go through these until you sound the amp that sounds closest.

     

    THEN change the cab, add a dual cab, or your favorite IR.

     

    And change the FX out for what works best for you.

     

    This new set list will be my starting place to find the tone for a song when I'm recording for sure. SO useful.

    Thanks @PeterHamm and @brue58ski much appreciated!

    Headrush FX Pedalboard - anyone seen this yet?

    in Helix

    Posted

    OR, maybe Better? ^^. You don't need 509 different paths to get good tone or get lost in buying endless tones and ir's and still not be satisfied. or, have to hook up to another computer to edit in this day and age. And still line 6 can't get the preset switching to be seem less. If this board sounds halfway descent in a band mix and is seamless preset switching I will be a convert. This coming from a person who has had the bean to two helix units and everything in Between!

    Well we'll see in a few months when I'm sure there will be a few comparison video's between  Helix and Headrush.. Imo Helix will come on top!

    Helix FW 2.20 (The "Get Low" Update) OUT NOW

    in Helix

    Posted

    Man my helix sounds amazing just tried the Allure cabs they pair up pretty good with some of the Helix stock cabs...so far the 64 US Deluxe-  P12N sounds the best to me don"t  quote me on this but I think its a 50 watt Jensen Alnico.. They also sound great with Dual cabs and also split on 2 paths..

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